Director Stephen Norrington (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) signed on in 2008 to direct a new adaptation of comic creator James O’Barr’s “The Crow”. Just last month we told you about Norrington being announced as the director on The Lost Patrol, which is a supernatural action thriller set against the backdrop of World War II.

“The Crow” was created in 1989 by James O’Barr and follows a man named Eric Draven who assumes the identity of The Crow in order to avenge the murder of his fiancée. The Crow has been translated into almost a dozen languages and has sold almost one million copies, and is the best selling independent black-and-white graphic novel of all time.

The director recently revealed to Mania that The Crow is moving towards a greenlight from Relativity Media, the studio that is developing the reboot.

Norrington says,

“The producer and visual effects people are crunching numbers. We’ve opened discussions with major cast but nothing is final yet…[We’re hoping] to shoot in the summer, but nothing’s certain…Cast and budget and schedules will no doubt continue to adjust all equations.”

Back in November, producer Ryan Kavanaugh spoke about whether or not the iconic makeup from the original will return in the new film, he said;

“No, totally different… He’ll have makeup, but it will be different. The best way to compare it is the first Batman and Batman Begins. In terms of their look and feel and character.”

In 1994, director Alex Proyas adapted “The Crow” into a feature film starring the late Brandon Lee.

Norrington said,

“Whereas [Alex] Proyas’ original was gloriously Gothic and stylized, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style.”

Back in March of last year, Alex Proyas weighed in on Norrington’s impending reboot saying,

“The whole notion of remaking [The Crow], to me, is just ridiculous and I’d have nothing to do with it, as I’ve had nothing to do with any of the sequels or the TV show or any of that stuff. That’s other people involved with that and I wouldn’t even dream of remaking the movie, because as far as I’m concerned, that’s Brandon Lee’s movie and that’s why I finished the movie — in memory of Brandon. That’s the only reason I finished it actually.”

[Rant]

I agree with Proyas. Brandon Lee’s CROW should have been and should stay the only instance of O’Barr’s creation on film, out of respect for O’Barr’s vision, Proyas’ celluliod interpretation and Brandon Lee’s legacy. In my opinion, Eric Draven is the one and only Crow and Lee embodied that character perfectly.

Knowing what I think and what Alex Proyas thinks, you may be wondering “Well… where does James O’Barr stand on Norrington’s reboot?” Quite frankly, I’ve been wondering the same thing and luckily we caught up with O’Barr recently and talked to him about that (and much more) – so stay tuned for our exclusive interview with O’Barr tomorrow, right here on SciFiMafia.com

They’re all dead. They just don’t know it yet. – Eric Draven